Tag Archives | schools

On one level it seems as though the decades long battle over grammar schools has been won. They feature in neither of the main parties’ manifestos…And yet ‘grammars’ remain lurking in the shadows of this election.

Trust has become a major theme in recent education debate. In this article Graham Birrell argues that despite the benefits it would bring, teachers shouldn’t expect to feel any more trusted post the general election.

How might the likely post-general election funding squeeze effect schools? Sam Freedman, Director of Research, Evaluation and Impact for Teach First and former Policy Advisor to Michael Gove, explores the consequences, concluding it could force schools to make some significant decisions regarding their futures. Over the course of the last Labour Government schools saw huge […]

School newsletters – those crumpled pieces of paper found, all too often, at the bottom of a schoolbag long after they are dispatched – are a humble but important part of school-home communication. In this article, Joanna Apps and Kevin Brewster, analyse the messages they convey. Finding the best way to engage parents in their […]

A quiet revolution is how Kevin Brennan, Shadow Schools Minister, described the rapid growth of co-operative schools… It is worth reflecting on this quiet little revolution and why, in the face of the acceleration of the forced academisation strategy, the number of co-operative schools has almost doubled in the past year…

The challenges that children and young people face in their everyday lives clearly have an impact on their ability to access and engage with their learning. And listening and attending to these issues is part of the daily work of many education professionals…At best this can be exhausting – at worst the ability of teachers […]

Given that teachers in schools can be positioned principally with being policy enactors and that education policy tends to be deeply implicated in political imperatives, some alternative perspectives are required if the thinking in schools is to evolve beyond the constant bending to policy initiatives…

A strong argument has been emerging for some time that there is a concerning lack of rigour underpinning much of the research in this area. The proliferation of research and practical wisdom that declare how strong and effective relationships between schools and parents will improve achievement and make our children happier may actually be built […]

How can schools effectively challenge radical extremist discourses without teachers who have confidence in exploring issues of national identity and cultural diversity, shared values, human rights and democracy? To consider these soft or second order educational aims is to fail to recognise the role schools play as community institutions and it undermines community capital to […]